William f



UNITED v,STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. FoLnER, :ou NEW YonK, N. Y

TRIPOD.

srnerrrcsr'ronformmg pm of 'Letters ramt No. 608,850, dated august 9, 189s.

Application tiled' August 20, 1897.

' To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F.l FOLMER, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at New York, in the county of New YorkI and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tripods, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make' and use the same.

This invention relates to tripods for use in supporting cameras and other articles;and the object thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which is simple in construction and operation and which is designed to supporta camera or other article at any desired height, a further object being to provide a-tripod` the legs of .which are composedof separate telescopic sections which are provided with locking devices, whereby they may be secured in the extended position, a further object being to provide a tripod of this class the lower leg-sections of which are provided with a plurality of locking devices, whereby they may be locked in a fully or partially extended position, as may be desired; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts here inafter described and claimed. The invention is-fully disclosed in the following speciication, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of my improved tripod; Fig. 2, a bottom plan view of the head thereof. Fig. 3 is a partial vertical central section, somewhat enlarged, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4,

. a longitudinal section, on an enlargedscale, of

one of the lower telescopic sections of one of the legs of the tripod; Fig. 5, a plan view of the top thereof, and Fig. 6 a side view of one of the locking devices or tubes which I em ploy for holding the separate sections'of the legs of the tripod in their extended position.

In the drawings forming part of this specication the separate parts of my improvements are designated by the same numerals of reference in each oi` the. views, and inthe practice of my invention I provide a circular tripod-head 7, which is provided with three radial sets of jaws 8, ,which are formed onthe bottom thereof, and thehead 7 is proySerial No. 648,908. (No model.)

vided with a depending rim or flange 9, screwthreaded on the outer side, and a cap 10, provided with a depending rim or flange 11, screw-threaded on its inner side and screwed onto the head -7, and formed in the head 7 and cap 10 is a spherical chamber 3, whi'ch opens upwardly through the cap 10, and mounted in said chamberis a ball 4, provided with a shank 5, on which is mounted 'a disk or plate 6*, and said shank projects upwardly and is formed into a split screw 7 'the-splits therein being shown at 8 in Fig. 5, v l

and passingthereinto is a screw 13, and th'e screw 7 serves as means for securing eameras .or other devices .to the tripod or to thc 'caps 7 and 10, and the object of splitting the upper end of the screw'7 is to provide means to' enlarge the same, so as to adjust lthe size thereof incross-section when necessary; but this feature is not an essential element of my invention and may or may not be employed. l

The separate legs of the tripod, three of which are shown, are pivotally connected with the jaws 8 of the head 7of the tripod, as shown at 14, and each o f these legs consist of a plurality of telescopic tubular or other sections, five of which are shown in the drawings, and these sections are designated for the purposes of description by the reference-numerals 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. The lower end of each .of these se'ctions,with the exception of the lower section, is provided with an inwardly-directed flange or rim 20, and the upper end of each of the sections, with the exception of the top section 15, is provided with a tubular plug 21,

in the upper end of whichis secured a plug 22, to the upper end of which is secured a'.

circular disk or head 23, which is adapted to closely .iit the 'tubular section in which it is placed, and secured to the plug 22 is a spring tions 16, 17,18, and 19 is constructed in the same manner, and each of said sections is' also provided with a packing-ring'28, which v tice It willbe understood that cachot the sec- 4the legs ofthe tripod and Athe-'other sec'tions,

is .sc'rd thereon snowman is adapted to -limit the outward movement o f the section with which it is connected, and whenV each of said sections is projected toits'fullest. extent screw-threaded plug 28', on which is formed an extension 29, by means of which. it is connected with the tripod-head -7 or the-jaws 8 thereof, andthe operation'pthisfpart of the .construction .will be -readilyunderst'ood from 'the foregoing description,whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings', and

thefollowing statement thereof.

When the separate sections of each of the telescopic legs of the tnipod'are in their projectedpositiom'the pins 26 will pass. through the openings'27and'will hold said 'sections' in their projected position, and in orde'r forthe device to be closed'np thepins 26 must bel pressed inwardlyjandthe sections in which they. are placed afee shovedinwardlyjntothe adjacent upper sections, as willl 'be readily understood.

."The tubular plug'-21, in which the plug` 22 and the spring 2 4 are placed, is shown i'n sec-V tion in Fig.`3, and a side v iew thereof is given'.

longitudinal section of .the-' flower telescopic section sl .ofone of the legs ofthetri only difference between this section. of o neof with the-exception of the upper* section 15,'

" consists inthe fact that said lower section is provided with ai: single tnbn'iarf .plug 21 and the connected springs. 24, and inthis case the I plugs-22 are'omitted, and tl`1e object. of this 'co'nstructiomis to provide means for. more nicely adjustingthe heightorthe length f thelegs, and the Aslots 25 'are alSQPlQvided in' the tubular plug 21. s I t will thus be seen that'laccomplish the object of my inventionby means of a dev-ice which is simple .in constructionandfoperae tion, and itvwillbe apparent that my inven.-

tion can be-folded -in'to a'conipact for-ni, and

inpractice the'separate'telescopicsections of. such legs are. of thesaineor substantially the same '1ength, so aste facilitatethis operation;

and the length of thelegs of-.the tripod when folded together is but slightlygreater than the,4 length of one of Athe -sections of which said -legs are composed'.-

.It will also b e apparent that changes in and mdicatio'ns'ef theconstruction herein de@v pod Asaid Fig. 4 being o n-an enlarged scale; "The scribed'. may. belinade without departing frein i coseno t-h'e spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages, and I reserve the right tomake all suchalterations therein and'modiications thereof as fairly come within the scope of the invention, l l y.

Having lfully. describedmy invention, I claim as new. and desire to secure byLetters Patent--4 1. A tripod consisting cita-head, a support connected therewith, and legsp'ivotally connectedwith said head, -said legs being composed o f pi'vo'ted and telescopic sections, andV the telescopicsections with the extension of theAlower section being each provided at its lower end with anJinwardly-'direeted -ilange or rim', plugs secured in said telescopic section l'and provided with circular heads .at their upper ends, and'packing-rings secured in th'e bottol'nof each 4of said lsections except Athe bottom section, andsprings secured to said plugs, the' lower ends 'of "which project below said sections, 'and areprovided with outwardlydirected pins, each of said sections being provided with holes' through which said pins pass,'\substan tially as described. "2.` A tripod provided with legs 'composed of tubular pivoted and telescopic sections, said .telescopic sections with the exception of 4the lower section vbeing each provided at its 'Hardly-directed .flange or rim, andeach telescopic section being provided with a tube which is secured therein,

."a 'plug secured insaid tube, a circular head secured to the en d of said plug, a spring se-` cgred-to said'plug and provided'at its lowerA 'en dwth.A apin or projection, and a lhole in the sideA of the section through which said pin passes, substantially as shown and described. 3l A tripod consisting of a head 'provided vwith a depending a'nge exteriorly screw- 'threaded and' having a curved socket formed in itsu'ppe'r surface, legs pivotally connectedwith said head, a ap...having fan interiorl'y-I -threadeddepending langefwhereby'it is adjl'istably secured. to said headand provided) 'with a curved socket formed 'in its under euri face, a support' provided with a ball at one 'end adapted to be reg'seivedv by the sockets of saidhead and cap' forming 'a ball-and-socket joint anda disk or plate carried by said supi port,substantially as shown-and described.

- In testimony that Ijclaim the foregoing' as my invention'I have signed my name, in 'presence of thesubscribing witnesses, this" 18th 

